Banker Basher Mario Batali Will Chop Off His Ponytail For $500,000

Famed restaurateur and inciter of banker wrathMario Batali will chop off his iconic red ponytail if his personal charity raises $500,000 by February 7, according to the Huffington Post.The restaurant owner and chef has agreed to sacrifice his coiffe as part of a nationwide philanthropic campaign in partnership with Food & Wine magazine and Chefs Make Change.

Batali, who owns high-end New York eateries Babbo and Del Posto, angered Wall Street in November after he compared bankers to Hitler and Stalin at Time‘s ‘Person of the Year’ debate.

Several other mega-chefs, including Dan Barber and Emeril Lagasse, are also participating in the challenge–which aims to raise a total of $1 million for the chefs’ philanthropic organisations by the Feb. 7 deadline, HuffPo said.